thinkbroadband

No Easter Eggs hidden in the speed test results, as we publish the analysis
from our broadband speed test for the period of March 2015.

When Virgin Media finally makes the formal announcement and roll-out of its
200 Mbps to 300 Mbps option we can expect to see the Virgin Media speeds jump
significantly and that will also have a large impact on the mean speeds in the
areas of the UK where the cable provider has its network. Though at speeds like
this the equipment you use to run the speed test will have an impact, and we
will at that point start to split the results up based on the platform, since
the Wi-Fi on a mobile phone and tablet is generally slower than what a full PC
can manage.

The KC result is interesting as the fact that the superfast roll-out in the
KC area which is at around 25% of premises is very FTTH heavy and the top
percentile speed of 115 Mbps reflects this.

Our own forum and PlusNet's own forum are busy with a chat about peak time
congestion and slow downs, but while there are short periods when speeds do
seem to slow down there has been no real impact on the monthly averages. The
fact that the speed issues seem to only affect certain gateways at the provider
and may be mixed in with congestion issues on the WBMC wholesale network
increases the difficulty in seeing any change in the overall figures. There
have also been one or two other providers that have spotted some occasional
congestion which is thought to be in the BT Wholesale network.

No surprise that Hyperoptic is at the top of the table once more, Gigaclear
and B4RN would also be up there but there is not enough geographic dispersed
tests to give us the confidence to feature them. As the two other providers
grow their footprint this is likely to change.

The mobile providers continue to feature well in the table and for those
where fixed line broadband is slow but mobile coverage is good may provide a
very real alternative so long as your data use volume is within an affordable
range.

Fixed wireless operator Wessex Internet is waving the flag once more for the
technology and show what can be achieved. We have in the last month added
tracking for two of the popular satellite broadband operators, the volume of
tests is still low but over time we may be able to provide a summary and show
how ADSL, ADSL2+, FTTC, FTTH, cable, fixed wireless, 4G and satellite all
compare to one another.

ADSL2+ Connection Speed Tests March 2015

Provider

Median Download

Mean Download

Median Upload

Mean Upload

All Providers

4.4 Mbps

7.4 Mbps

0.6 Mbps

0.8 Mbps

BT

4.8 Mbps

6 Mbps

0.4 Mbps

0.5 Mbps

Plusnet

5.8 Mbps

6.8 Mbps

0.5 Mbps

0.5 Mbps

Sky

5.9 Mbps

7.2 Mbps

0.7 Mbps

0.7 Mbps

TalkTalk

6 Mbps

6.9 Mbps

0.6 Mbps

0.6 Mbps

All Providers includes the larger named providers and tests from
other operators also offering ADSL2+

Fibre Based Connection Speed Tests March 2015

Provider

Median Download

Mean Download

Median Upload

Mean Upload

FTTC Overall (excludes Virgin Media)

32.1 Mbps

33.3 Mbps

8.6 Mbps

9.8 Mbps

BT

34.6 Mbps

35.6 Mbps

8.8 Mbps

9.9 Mbps

Plusnet

36.8 Mbps

38.4 Mbps

12.5 Mbps

11.7 Mbps

Sky

27.8 Mbps

27.4 Mbps

8.2 Mbps

8.2 Mbps

TalkTalk

32 Mbps

31.8 Mbps

1.9 Mbps

5.5 Mbps

Virgin Media

43.7 Mbps

52.1 Mbps

5.3 Mbps

6.1 Mbps

Each provider includes multiple products, so result will vary
depending on popularity of speed/price points

As is normal the FTTC speeds are dominated by what ever speed the entry
level product is offering, hence the slow uploads for TalkTalk FTTC and most of
the difference in download speeds is a factor of the popularity of the up to 76
Mbps product. PlusNet win because their up to 76 Mbps service is standard
pricing cheaper than the others, thus proving more popular.

After Easter we will be adding some of the Q1 2015 results for the various
parts of the UK to our blog pages, so people can keep up to speed with how
speeds are improving or not improving in the different parts of the UK.